Open Robust Infrastructures (ROBIN)

ROBIN is a project in the 2005 EC call on Preparatory Action for
Security Research. Our mission is to research and develop an
operating-system infrastructure capable of protecting against the
threats our information and communication infrastructure is currently
facing.
The objective of this Preparatory Action is to explore key
technologies for a small, robust platform that can host legacy
operating systems and their applications, but that is small enough to
undergo formal analysis and construction techniques. Preliminary
studies have shown that in the order of a hundred thousand lines of
code can be sufficient. The platform is comprised of the Nova
microhypervisor and the Bastei secure operating-system layer. It will
allow applications to be split into security-sensitive and other
parts. It will also allow applications to fall-back into an emergency
mode. This platform will be open and originate from Europe which will
establish an alternative to proprietary US solutions that we expect to
appear soon.
The project has been accepted under the Grant Agreement no.
SEC5-PR-104600. The project started February 2006 and ended April 2008.